Morning Report - News from Dec. 10, 1998

ENTERTAINMENT

Pop Album Chart: Garth Brooks continues his reign over the pop chart, but the youthful crooners of ‘N Sync nearly matched the country superstar’s sales success last week by landing two of their albums in the Top 10. Brooks’ two-disc “Double Live” logged its third week at No. 1 by selling 423,000 copies, bringing its total sales to 2.16 million, according to SoundScan. Meanwhile, ‘N Sync’s self-titled album climbed three notches to take the No. 3 position (Celine Dion’s “These Are Special Times” was No. 2), while the teen group’s seasonal “Home for Christmas” hit No. 9. The two albums sold a combined 399,000 copies for the seven-day sales period.

Hall of Fame Leader: Terry Stewart, a former president of Marvel Entertainment Group, has been named director of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, effective Jan. 4. Among his qualifications: Stewart, 52, is an avid collector of music memorabilia, including more than 200,000 vinyl records, a marquee sign from Harlem’s Apollo Theater and Buddy Holly’s homework. He replaces David Abbott, who resigned in July to head a group promoting Cleveland’s museum district.

UPN Moves: The UPN network will begin showing the former Fox series “Between Brothers,” starring Kadeem Hardison and Tommy Davidson, on Jan. 19 in the Tuesday 9:30 p.m. time slot, following “Malcolm & Eddie,” which moves to 9 p.m. Meanwhile, UPN has picked up a full season of its freshman comedy “DiResta,” which moves to Monday nights at 8:30, starting Jan. 15. That’s the same night that the animated “Dilbert” premieres at 8, and the drama “The Sentinel” returns to the network’s schedule, at 9.

QUICK TAKES

A memorial service for TV pioneer and Broadway producer Joseph Cates, who died in New York Oct. 10 at age 74, will be held Friday at noon at the Directors Guild of America. Cates, the writer, director and producer of more than 1,000 television productions, was the brother of director-producer Gil Cates and the father of actress Phoebe Cates. . . . “Wild Things” star Denise Richards has been cast as the latest Bond girl. She’ll star opposite Pierce Brosnan in the 19th James Bond film, which begins shooting in January for a November release. . . . Luciano Pavarotti will become the first classical artist to perform on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” when he sings “Adeste Fideles (O Come, All Ye Faithful)” with Vanessa Williams on this weekend’s program. Alec Baldwin hosts. . . . KCRW-FM (89.9) has added a second live performance of “This American Life”--a taping of the radio show starring sex columnist Dan Savage, writer-commentator Sandra Tsing Loh, writers Sarah Vowell and David Rakoff, and host Ira Glass--on Dec. 20 at 2 p.m. at UCLA’s Royce Hall.